Octopath Traveler 0 is now the third main game in the series that began Square Enix's "HD-2D" renaissance, taking both cult-classic and classically styled RPGs and imbuing them with a particular visual look and feel that pays homage to the heyday of 16-bit RPG excellence. Octopath itself has been iterated on enough that it's forged its own identity within that framework, giving Octopath Traveler 0 the freedom to break some of its own conventions and iterate on others. It's a reimagining of what an Octopath game means, and more than that, an excellent game in its own right.

Octopath Traveler 0 begins with character creation, which itself is a big departure from the Octopath norm. The games have previously told eight interconnected stories, each focused on named, individual characters. This new approach has you create your own protagonist, and they remain locked in your party throughout the entire game as the rest of it is filled in by various companion characters who you meet along your journey. The character creation is simplistic, with a handful of options for aspects like hairstyle and eye shape, but rendered in a retro pixel style that's enough to give you a good deal of flexibility.

That pixel-art style is largely unchanged from the previous two installments, and like many of the HD-2D games, it's an acquired taste. I found the lighting effects on the sprites to be distracting and washed out in handheld mode on Switch 2, but it looked much better on a big screen. Still, I find the art style in general to be fairly muddy and desaturated, and would appreciate the occasional vibrant splash of color, which Octopath 0 rarely provides.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond opens upon a massive battle as Samus comes to the aid of Federation troops. The action-packed sci-fi spectacle wouldn't be out of place in a Halo game, signaling a very different take on the Metroid series. But while it accurately signals some degree of departure from traditional Metroid Prime games--particularly with a greater emphasis on interactions with Federation characters and combat--the vast majority of Prime 4 is a well-crafted sequel that delivers on what Prime does best. The result is a satisfying long-awaited return that is excellent at capturing the Prime fundamentals, but hit-or-miss when it experiments with new ideas.

The massive battle that serves as the opening tutorial is between the Federation and a loose assemblage of Space Pirates, under the leadership of Sylux--a rival of protagonist Samus Aran who has been seen before, but not featured so prominently. Sylux is controlling Metroids somehow, but for the moment, the Federation's main concern is securing an ancient artifact before it's taken by Sylux's forces. When things go extremely wrong in that mission, the artifact transports Samus to Viewros--a dying planet whose sentient beings, the Lamorn, passed away untold years ago. Samus quickly finds a Psychic Crystal that imbues her with the ability to interface with Lamorn technology. It becomes apparent that Samus isn't alone--Sylux appears to have been transported here too, along with pieces of Federation tech and personnel. You're all trapped on this dying rock together, unless you find a way out.

However, recordings reveal that the Lamorn see the bearer of the Psychic Crystal as a "Chosen One," a savior for their people, in a sense. It's too late to rescue the Lamorn, but they wish to preserve their history and culture, and so they've prepared a Memory Fruit for the Chosen One to carry off-planet with the aid of their Master Teleporter. This aspect of the story is appropriately melancholic: You can't save the Lamorn people, but you can preserve what mattered most to them. So your mission is twofold: Carry the Memory Fruit to another world, and in doing so, get access to their teleporting technology that can save you and the other stranded Federation troops. Commence video game adventure.

Tribute Games clearly believes in the power of nostalgia. Its last project, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, brought the heroes in a half shell back to their 2D side-scrolling roots, to critical acclaim, while the rest of the company's portfolio is marked with games steeped in a retro look and feel. Now, Tribute is trying it again with Marvel Cosmic Invasion, a beat-'em-up featuring Marvel superheroes, and the results are similarly great, as Cosmic Invasion earns its place alongside the top retro brawlers of the modern era, thanks to both a solid roster of playable heroes and a few influences from other parts of Marvel's gaming history.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion drops its all-star cast of heroes into a galactic battle against Annihilus, who is using an army of parasitic bugs to take over the universe. Campaign mode plays out across over a dozen locations in the Marvel multiverse, including the Savage Land, Genosha, Wakanda, and more, with a rogues' gallery of villains leading up to the final battle with Annihilus. The campaign unfolds across 16 stages, each of them ending with a unique boss. Meanwhile, the Arcade mode streamlines the same story to 12 stages, with a few allowing you to choose between two locations.

A full run only took me about three hours to complete on Normal difficulty. Stages are mostly side-scrolling, and while a few curveballs with vertical sequences or unique stage hazards appear once in a while, the stage design doesn't stray far from a classic side-scroller. As such, eventually the sight of the same locations and enemies begins to wear thin, rendering the entire experience a bit shallow. There are unique collectibles to find and challenges to complete in each stage, as well as modifiers in Arcade mode--like increased health and speed for enemies, or super attacks costing health instead of focus--to add a bit of flair to each run, but each stage's fundamental structure, from visual designs to voice-acting cues, stays the same every time.

In Constance, you play as the titular heroine. Or at least a mental stand-in for her as she explores the furthest corners of her impressive mind palace--a surprisingly beautiful backdrop for a 2D action-adventure game that delves into the trauma of burnout. Armed with nothing more than a paintbrush, Constance bashes and dashes through the physical manifestation of her decaying mental health and clashes against her inner demons. It's a narrative with memorable moments but not an abundantly clear throughline, and an adventure that makes a few missteps throughout. Still, when Constance slows down long enough to allow you to appreciate its splendor and think through its platforming puzzles, it's often a marvel to behold.

The story of Constance draws clear parallels to the likes of Celeste or Tales of Kenzera: Zau, dispensing emotional gut-punches in the quiet moments between the frenetic platforming. But unlike these comparisons, Constance's story isn't linear. This greatly enhances the game's metroidvania inspirations, opening up the beautifully hand-drawn world to be explored and overcome in nearly any direction you want after beating the first boss, but it makes it harder to follow the protagonist's growth and relate to her overall journey.

Compounding those problems, none of the characters in Constance are all that memorable or feel enough like people. Many of them ask Constance for help with their problems--which play out as optional side quests--but these quests don't lead to substantial revelations or gift anything necessary to beat the game. The quests (and thus the characters) feel like unnecessary fluff and are subsequently not important enough to interact with. Perhaps more of a selfish desire on my part, but it's such a shame how little there is to the story's characters. Without anyone for Constance to narratively bounce off of, it leaves her feeling flat as well. The situations we see her endure in her real life are still emotional, but because Constance doesn't feel like a person, they lose the relatability. I cared less and less about Constance as the game went on, playing the game for the pleasure of beating a platformer, not to meaningfully engage with its narrative of burnout.

When Kirby Air Riders was announced earlier this year, I was a bit confused. As much as I love the 2003 original, two Nintendo kart racing games in the same year felt odd--a fact that even game director Masahiro Sakurai candidly pointed out in a Nintendo Direct. It's especially strange given how intentional Nintendo has been with its steady stream of Switch 2 first-party releases. However, to reduce Kirby Air Riders to another kart racer feels disingenuous. Yes, racing is at the center of the experience, but what makes Kirby Air Riders stand out is how it bends its foundational mechanics to create new game modes and refine older ones. The result is a terrific sequel packed with clever ideas, fun challenges, and a lot of charm.

Mechanically, Kirby Air Riders is simple. You accelerate automatically, so aside from steering your racing machine left and right, there are two inputs: Boost Charge and Special. Boost Charge is essentially a brake that charges a brief speed boost. When released, your machine launches forward. If timed around a corner, Boost Charge functions like drifting in Mario Kart. Meanwhile, Special unleashes an attack or ability unique to your rider. Aside from the Quick Spin, which can be performed by waggling the control stick, you can inhale enemies on the track to obtain copy abilities. These are either used automatically or tied to the same input as your Boost Charge.

This two-button scheme makes Kirby Air Riders easy to pick up, but it could have benefitted from using one more input. Because inhaling enemies and activating copy abilities are bound to the same button as Boost Charge, firing off attacks can slow down your machine if you don't tap the Boost Charge input quick enough. While a tad annoying at first, this shortcoming is easy enough to overcome with practice.